Comments Off on Kitsbow To Release Latest Film in 36 Hours Series: “Not Quite Out of the Woods”

PETALUMA, Calif. (Dec. 10, 2018) — After launching the first-ever 36 Hours in Kitsbow film series, a program giving anyone the chance to apply for a production stipend to showcase their favorite adventure, Kitsbow is honored to…

TRAIL KNOWLEDGE. SISTERHOOD. CONFIDENCE. STEEZE AND EXPERTISE. Come join an AMAZING community of women at the Sugar Showdown as we empower each other while we build our jump and drop…

TRAIL KNOWLEDGE.
SISTERHOOD.
CONFIDENCE.
STEEZE AND EXPERTISE.

Come join an AMAZING community of women at the Sugar Showdown as we empower each other while we build our jump and drop skills at infamous Duthie Hill Mountain Bike Park!

Find inspiration and progression together with some of the best coaches from around the world at this weekend workshop designed to build and sharpen proper techniques. Individualized clinics Saturday will be grouped based on ability and will target skills that will help you stay safe, smart, and aware on the dirt. This is what we call Adrenaline Zen! Instruction will focus on building competence and confidence in freeride skills, including fundamentals, line choice, amplitude, and style. On Sunday, participate in a fun, low-pressure competition focusing on ride style before joining in the rowdy raffle and awards ceremonies!

Sugar Showdown is open to women and anyone who identifies as female. The weekend offers something for everyone. We meet every rider where they are, from 6-year-old sweet peas to the best pro freeriders in the world. Come be a part of the sisterhood of shred with Sweetlines at the Sugar Showdown!

PREREQUISITES:
For the Novice and Amateur classes, participants must have been riding mountain bikes for a minimum of 1 year and be ready to jump and drop (new to jumping is good but no new riders please).

Comments Off on Ride Like a Girl 2019 Call for Applications for Mentorship Program

4 min read

We are now accepting applications from BC athletes for the 2019 mentorship program. If you are under the age of 20 and keen to progress your downhill, enduro, cross-country or…

We are now accepting applications from BC athletes for the 2019 mentorship program. If you are under the age of 20 and keen to progress your downhill, enduro, cross-country or freeriding skills, you may have just what it takes to be the next athlete in the 2019 program. We will be selecting several new up and coming athletes to be matched with pro-athletes throughout the season.

Athletes selected for the program will have the opportunity to receive guidance, racing advice and have an opportunity to meet and ride with a professional athlete in their discipline. Among Ride Like a Girl’s 2019 mentors are well-known mountain bike athletes Jaime Hill (downhill), Sandra Walter (cross-country). Stephanie Denroche (downhill), Katie Button (cross-country and off-road triathlon), Carey Mark (cross-country), and Lisa Ludwig (cross-country) as well as several other pros. Each of the 2019 mentors are accomplished athletes with many years’ experience in the mountain bike industry and racing backgrounds ranging from racing world cups to national and provincial level events.

Sandra Walter, Ride Like a Girl mentor, shredding on her cross-country machine.

“Being a mentor for Ride Like a Girl is a fun and rewarding way for me to give back to the sport and share all of my experience with young shredders. Plus, they usually teach me a thing or two, so it’s a win-win! I really enjoy being involved in the development of young women mountain bike racers, because it keeps me in touch with the community and my roots and anything we can do to encourage girls to stay active is awesome,” says Sandra Walter, pro cross-country racer, and ten time Canadian national team member.

“2018 was a big year for me and having such an amazing role model who I could look up to and who helped me train and learn throughout the year was a huge help. Having Mical Dyck there as my mentor to give me advice and coach was a super important part of my racing the last season. I enjoyed my rides with Mical learning race techniques and just having fun,” says Emmy Lan, 2018 Ride Like a Girl athlete, from the Comox Valley, BC.

Jaime dropping in on a riding adventure in Norway.

Biking is my passion. I want the up and coming generation of females to feel welcomed into the sport and have fun! Through being a mentor for Ride Like a Girl I hope to spread the word and the stoke to greater the riding community with more young girls shredding,” says Stephanie Denroche, Ride Like a Girl DH mentor, former BC Provincial Champion, Junior Canadian National Champion, and past Ride Like a Girl athlete.

Jaime Hill railing a berm in her local trails

““The ride like a girl program provides young female mountain bike athletes with an invaluable opportunity of mentorship from experienced, strong female athletes and role models. Since its inception, I have been proud to help riders not only grow their skill set on their bikes, but in many other aspects of life in general,” says Jaime Hill pro downhill mountain biker, coach, mentor and Director for Ride Like a Girl.

“I’ve been so honoured to watch all the girls who have been part of this program over the years blossom into not just confident, skilled riders and athletes, but amazing all-around humans as well! I’m excited to continue to work with Ride Like A Girl for 2019 to help even more young girls hone their skills, increase their confidence and build more future life-long community ambassadors!”

Jaime Hill, Ride Like a Girl mentor, doing a skills session with a crew of young shredders.

Ride Like a Girl is accepting applications until February 18, 2019. Interested athletes must be under the age of 20, live in British Columbia, and have some racing/freeriding experience. Community involvement including coaching, trail building, helping with races and events, and other volunteer pursuits are an asset for applicants.

NORTH VANCOUVER, BC – July 5, 2018: The 12th edition of BC Bike Race kicks off tomorrow when 600 racers from – a record – 40 different countries arrive in North…

NORTH VANCOUVER, BC – July 5, 2018: The 12th edition of BC Bike Race kicks off tomorrow when 600 racers from – a record – 40 different countries arrive in North Vancouver. We are as excited as ever to welcome new and returning faces to our backyard. This year, for the first time, the race will begin in the scenic Cowichan Valley and will end in Squamish – a favorite stage for our racers.

Geoff Kabush is our defending champion and will be battling it out against a strong Open Men’s field. Pan American Games Gold Medalist, Jeremiah Bishop from the US and 5-time Cape Epic winner, Karl Platt from Germany are both new to the event and we can’t wait to see what the bring to the table! ͞All my mates did the race and said I have to do it,͟ says Karl. ͞They were really impressed with the relaxed atmosphere and how people enjoyed it. They were also impressed with the trails and everything around. I am not new to BC but it was always my wish to experience it a bit more, so I think the BCBR is a great opportunity!͟

Cory Wallace won the race in 2016 but was unable to defend his title last year when he was forced to withdraw during stage 7 due to an illness. Quinn Moberg, the local hero, will get too race his home trails for stage 7 this year, which could lead to a nail-biting finish. Also returning this year are Tim Johnson and Sam Schultz. Both racers encountered challenges last year – Sam withdrew from the race in Squamish, after a podium finish a couple of days earlier, due to sickness. And Tim received a crash course in suspension set-up during the week after developing serious blisters due to a combination of. too much tire and suspension pressure and skinny grips. ͞I was trying to go fast and trying to keep up with the lead group and I just. shredded my hands,͟ says Tim of his experience. We are looking forward to seeing what he can do out there this time with a year of BCBR under his belt!

I’m stoked to come to check out BC Bike Race for my first time. It’s like single track Christmas! I don’t know what’s coming, but I know it’s good! The field is stacked with an all star lineup perhaps the toughest yet! This should make for a dynamic race with possible lead changes, though out the week. I am gunning for a stage win and a top three overall, but my final goal is to see what the local beer is all about!
~ Jeremiah Bishop

Katerina Nash is our defending champion in the Women’s Open category, “as a racer I always want to do my best at any race I compete at. Therefore, defending my BCBR title is a goal. However, it is the race itself, the trails and the welcoming communities that I think about and get excited about when returning to BCBR.͟ Also, back this year and vying for the win is Helke Elferink who took the third step overall last year. Hannah Finchamp, who new to the race this year, will also be pushing for the top step. This current Collegiate national mountain bike champion also took the amateur wold XTERRA champion titles at ages 16 and 17.

Hannah Barnes, a world-traveling adventure athlete, will be getting a taste of what coastal British Columbia has to offer and Canadian freestyle skier and reigning Olympic Gold Medalist in ski cross, Brady Leman, will also be experiencing our race for the first time!

BC Bike Race wouldn’t be the event it is without the mountain bike community as a whole. We are looking forward to having some of our local community legends join us this year. Noel Buckley, the owner of Knolly Bikes, will be racing, as will Trail Builder, Penny Deck. On our North Vancouver stage, all the racers will get to enjoy Penny’s hard work! Grant Lamont has been a Course Director with BC Bike Race for the last eleven years, this year he is riding the event for the first time! And of course, we. are delighted to be welcoming back Graeme Fitch. Graeme is the only racer who has finished all 11 years of BC Bike Race – that’s 77 stages in total!

We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the communities we visit – Cowichan Valley, Cumberland, Powell River, Sechelt, North Vancouver, and Squamish for hosting us and sharing their incredible trails with our international field of racers. We are also honored and grateful to be riding and sleeping on the land of the Quw’utsun, K’omoks, Tla’amin, Shishalh, Tsleil-Waututh, and Skwxwu7mesh First Nations. And of course, without all of the dedicated trail builders and volunteers, British Columbia would not be the mecca for mountain biking that it has become.

This year it will be easier than ever to follow the race! With live action updates on Twitter, Facebook Live feeds of starts and finishes, Instagram stories and posts, up-to-the-minute online timing results, and daily race reports, photo albums, and videos – you will feel like you’re right in the middle of the action! Head over to our homepage to find all the latest race info all in one place!

About BC Bike Race:

BC Bike Race is a seven-day mountain bike stage race that follows a route from North Vancouver to Vancouver Island, down the Sunshine Coast, and up the Sea-to-Sky corridor, finishing in Squamish. The event, now in its 12th year, welcomes over 600 racers annually from an average of 36 different countries. By sharing over 300 kilometres of legendary handmade singletrack with an international audience, BC Bike Race has become a must-do event in the mountain bike world.

Our R&D Centre is located at the foot of Vancouver’s North Shore mountains, and we’ll be the first to tell you how proud we are to call this place home….

Our R&D Centre is located at the foot of Vancouver’s North Shore mountains, and we’ll be the first to tell you how proud we are to call this place home. The riding here is legendary, the people are awesome, and over the past several years the North Shore has developed into a thriving riding community.

Our local partner

Mountain biking on the North Shore has undergone a major shift in the last 20 years. From the early days of freeride, where guys like Wade Simmons undeniably ruled the woods, to current state where we have more excited riders than ever before riding the trails. We even have climbing trails now! We’re thankful to be partnered with our local trail organization, the North Shore Mountain Bike Association (NSMBA), and work with them to make our riding community the best it can be.

The NSMBA have done an incredible job in building the infrastructure required to sustainably grow and support the local riding community. Programs like the Trail Adoption Program (TAP) were created to give local businesses, like us, a chance to adopt a trail and put our efforts directly back into the trails we love to ride. For the past few years, we’ve adopted a trail on Mount Seymour called “Forever After”, hosting staff and public volunteer trail building days, and watching people smile when they test their times down it at the local enduro race series.

Jesse Melamed, Remi Gauvin, ALN, and Thomas Vanderham came out to cheer on the racers!

Last week, we sponsored and hosted one of the local NSMBA “Fiver” Enduro races on the freshly buffed trail, “Forever After”. The Fiver Series is about as good as it gets. For just $5, NSMBA members get to race some of the best trails in the world, hang out with a community of passionate riders, and end the night with locally cooked food and iced cold beer. It was a sold-out event with 200 registered racers, with an oversold afterparty at the Rocky Mountain R&D Centre just down the road from the trails!

Albstadt, Germany, May 15, 2018 – Canada will bring eight riders to Europe for a national mountain bike project at Rounds 2 and 3 of the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike…

Albstadt, Germany, May 15, 2018 – Canada will bring eight riders to Europe for a national mountain bike project at Rounds 2 and 3 of the Mercedes-Benz UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Germany and the Czech Republic.

While a number of top Canadian pros will compete with their trade teams in Albstadt, Germany, on May 18-20, and Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, on May 25-27, a selection of riders will also participate in Team Canada colours.

Dan Proulx, National Mountain Bike Coach, explains, “These World Cups are incredibly challenging and will test the riders’ climbing and technical skills. At this point in the season, most riders are in good form and we expect the races to be very fast. We’re bringing a good team of riders with a nice mix of developing athletes and experienced racers.”

“Emily Batty, Catharine Pendrel and Haley Smith will be competing with their pro teams at this event. They’ll be in the new Short Track event on Friday that will be used to establish start position for the XC race on Sunday. This is an exciting development for our sport and we’re looking forward to perfecting this event at the World Cup level. It’s going to be new for everyone in the field, so there will be a learning curve. Traditionally, when they add these sorts of events to endurance sport, Canadians end up doing very well.”

In the Elite ranks, Team Canada riders will be Andrew L’Esperance for the men, and Sandra Walter and Catherine Fleury for the women. The Under-23 squad is comprised of Mackenzie Myatt and Anne-Julie Tremblay for the women, and Gunnar Holmgren, Brody Sanderson and Sean Fincham for the men.

Andrew L’Esperance – Halifax, Nova Scotia [Elite Men]

Sandra Walter – Coquitlam, BC [Elite Women]

Catherine Fleury – Saint-Gedeon, Quebec [Elite Women]

Mackenzie Myatt – Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia [U23 Women]

Anne-Julie Tremblay – Chicoutimi, Quebec [U23 Women]

Gunnar Holmgren – Orillia, Ontario [U23 Men]

Brody Sanderson – Oro Medonte, Ontario [U23 Men]

Sean Fincham – Squamish, BC [U23 Men]

About Cycling Canada
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages the High Performance team, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

Comments Off on Rude and Ravenel conquer the French rocks in Montagnes du Caroux

2 min read

Richie Rude and Cecile Ravanel finished day two of the third round of the Enduro World Series just as they started it, at the top of the results sheet. Ravanel…

Richie Rude and Cecile Ravanel finished day two of the third round of the Enduro World Series just as they started it, at the top of the results sheet.
Ravanel (Commencal Vallnord Enduro Team) put on a typically dominant performance, winning seven of the eight stages. Isabeau Courdurier (Intense-Mavic Collective) shook off a bad crash during practice to take second place, whilst Ines Thoma (Canyon Factory Enduro Team) put on an incredibly consistent performance to ride her way into third place.

Cecile nearly had total stage domination but a crash on the urban stage yesterday put an end to that. Photo Enduro World Series

In the men’s competition Rude (Yeti Fox/Shox Factory Racing Team) and Adrien Dailly (Team Lapierre) battled it out all day on Sunday – with just one second separating them heading into the last stage of the day. However Rude put the power down and no-one could match him, finishing the race over five seconds up on Dailly. Martin Maes (GT Factory Racing) and Florian Nicolai (Canyon Factory Enduro Team) were also locked in competition for third place, with Martin winning out after a blistering run on stage eight.

In the U21 Men Duncan Nason (Yeti Fox/Shox Factory Racing Team) cemented his series lead with another win, with Elliot Heap (Chain Reaction Cycles Mavic) in second and Frenchman Elliot Baud in third. Ella Conolly stamped her authority on the U21 women again, with Chloe Taylor in second and Abigale Lawton in third.

Tomi Misser of Spain made an outstanding EWS debut, clinching the Masters win. Mike West of the USA grabbed second and Carles Barcon rounded out the top three. Daniela Michel won Master Women, with reigning champion Mary Mcconneloug in second and Cathy Gijbels in third.

Canyon Factory Enduro Team were both team of the day and now lead the series.

Series Leaders. Photo : Enduro World Series

Cecile Ravanel and Sam Hill (Chain Reaction Cycles Mavic) still lead the series heading into round four, the Black Hole Enduro Petzen/Jamnica which takes place in both Austria and Slovenia on June 30 – July 1.

Comments Off on World Ride Launches to Help Grow Women’s Mountain Biking in Nepal

3 min read

World Ride, a mountain bike adventure company, has launched to help support the growth of women’s mountain biking in Nepal. World Ride organizes mountain bike trips and retreats on epic…

World Ride, a mountain bike adventure company, has launched to help support the growth of women’s mountain biking in Nepal. World Ride organizes mountain bike trips and retreats on epic trails in Nepal, and all proceeds from these trips go to the Ladies Mountain League, an organization that helps to empower Nepali women through the outdoors.

World Ride developed out of a project started by Julie Cornelius, a mountain bike guide and nutrition coach out of Moab, UT to aid Nepal after the 2015 earthquakes. In March of 2017, Cornelius traveled with a team of ladies including Shonny Vanlandingham, Francesca Weikert and Lindsey Richter (Ladies Allride) to Nepal to film the documentary Moksha, produced by AndShesDopeToo. The ladies worked with a team of Nepali ladies to tell their story through the film. They also taught a skills clinic to Nepali women, many of whom had never mountain biked before. In May of 2017, two of the Nepali ladies, Usha Khanal and Roja KC, became the first female Nepali AMGA certified mountain bike guides. These two ladie are now employed by World Ride partner Himalayan Singletrack and working guiding mountain bike tours throughout Nepal.

World Ride supports the growth of mountain biking in Nepal through three avenues- recreation, careers, and racing. The Ladies Mountain League hosts weekly rides for ladies and has a small fleet of bikes the women can use for free. World Ride will help to purchase more bikes to expand the weekly recreational rides. Proceeds will also go to continue training for women guides in Nepal. Mountain bike tourism is growing in the country, and mountain bike guiding is a sustainable career path for these ladies. Some women choose to race in cross country, downhill and enduro disciplines. World Ride will help to support these ladies, with the future goal of sending a Nepali woman to the Olympic games.

World Ride trips are fully supported, guided trips through some of the highest mountains in the world. Currently, World Ride has two trips offerings- Annapurna Circuit and Jomsom Muktinath Enduro, and both trips have dates for ladies only trips and for coed trips. The Annapurna Circuit ride tests a riders stamina and srength over the course of 14 days while riding over the imposing Thorong La Pass (5416m, 17,769 ft). The Jomsom Muktinath Enduro is a less strenuous trip that takes riders through the Mustang region of Nepal. Both rides combine rugged jeep roads and truly amazing singletrack for a trip-of-a-lifetime!

Along with organizing mountain bike adventures, World Ride is collecting donations of gear and financial contributions for the Ladies Mountain League. Mountain biking is financially restrictive for women in Nepal, so the Ladies Mountain League and World Ride are working to make it possible for all women to join. New and gently used items are currently being accepted and all World Ride adventure participants are encouraged to bring over items to Nepal to donate.

Visit www.world-ride.com to find out more, book a trip, and to make a donation!

“It is difficult to summarize a Nepal experience… The warmth of the people, the amazing Himalayas- a perfect landscape- and the culture of the place. They all make traveling to Nepal an out of this world experience. I am so lucky to have had this opportunity”- Carmina, 2017 World Ride adventurer

Adapting to change is a skill that few can truly master, and during the last 25 years the mountain bike world has changed immensely. Who remembers square taper cranks…

Adapting to change is a skill that few can truly master, and during the last 25 years the mountain bike world has changed immensely.

Who remembers square taper cranks and chain tensioners? It’s not just product that has changed either. We’ve gone from being a sport with no dedicated riding facilities to now having bike parks, trail centers and more around the world.

The riders have also evolved. Counting the number of pros who have remained relevant after such a long time barely requires two hands. Tracy Moseley is one of those riders and is always present in the changing landscape of MTB.

XC was really the only discipline in racing that had any structure when Tracy first started riding. She started out by tagging along with her brother, Ed, who was a top World Cup DH rider in the early 2000s. She soon displayed a natural flair for riding bikes—fast!

As it turned out, this young rider from the Malvern Hills was destined for a bright future. Racing, but more so bikes, were to become a key component of Tracy’s life.

DH took over the MTB scene and she raced for high profile teams through the late 90s. Tracy was winning many world cups, but in 2010 she won the World Championship at Mont St Anne. That was over 7 years ago, and Tracy had been racing DH world cups since 1998. To sustain such a career through all the changes that DH has seen in that period of time is incredible. Few riders can compare to the great achievements and career longevity that she has had and continues to have.

Already cemented as one of the greatest riders of all time, Tracy then turned her attention to Enduro where she won the EWS and became World Champion three years in a row. Being able to adapt has been one of Tracy’s defining attributes in a sport where so many riders grab 5 minutes of glory before quietly fading from the limelight.

Now Tracy’s focus is beginning to shift more into a mountain biking icon and voice for woman around the world. She pushes the rise of women in MTB by encouraging young girls and women of all ages to get on a bike, have fun, and challenge themselves. Tracy’s riding has gone full circle—from the pressures of racing EWS and chasing victories on all corners of the globe to simply enjoying riding trails she’s known for two decades. And don’t forget that she still races in select Enduros and DH events, dominating the field most of the time.

Some constants have naturally remained during this 25-year period: hard work, drive, keeping yourself protected and a sense of humor that keeps you on your toes.

Filming with Tracy in the Tweed Valley in Scotland was the perfect place to give a nod to the past as well as a glimpse into the future. Tracy has embraced the change and we have no doubt that she’ll be around for some time to come.

“Maintaining a long career, I think, is quite hard in this sport. Where often you’re pushing the limits and having crashes frequently. Having good protection and me working with G-form the last few years has been real key to making sure you always take those precautions and that you are protected when you go out and ride.”